The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a chassis for housing components of an information handling system components such as printed circuit boards, peripherals, power supplies and connectors.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to acquire, process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system (‘IHS’) generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
FIG. 1, is a view in perspective of a computer chassis, according to prior art. A chassis 100 typically houses the main electronic components of the computer system, including a motherboard (also referred to as a planar module), power supply, cooling system, and optional cards, such as interface boards that provide audio, video and/or networking capabilities. In addition to housing and protecting the electrical and mechanical components, the chassis 100 also provides a mounting structure for the electronic components that are secured in accordance with a layout that efficiently interconnects them. The structure often incorporates hooks, tabs, channels, slots, screws, or the like for mounting circuit boards within the chassis. These mounting techniques often result in a reduction of useful surface area of the circuit board, especially the planar module.
The layout of the chassis 100 typically includes providing accessibility to computer components, boards, assemblies and/or modules from the front and the back of the chassis. These components are typically connected, directly or indirectly, to the planar module (not shown), which is typically mounted in the back of the chassis. Most chassis layouts provide a front access to user accessible peripheral devices 110, such as removable hard disk drives (HDD) 112, optical disk drives, and/or universal serial bus (USB) ports. These front accessible peripheral devices 110 typically include a backplane 120, which is typically located centrally sandwiched in-between the front accessible peripheral devices 110 and rear mounted assemblies 130, 140 and 150. As is well known, the backplane 120 facilitates the electrical coupling between the front and back mounted electronic assemblies and typically includes a printed circuit board assembly.
Presently, some modular designs of the chassis 100 enable docking or undocking of some rear mounted functional assemblies 130, 140 and 150 which may include a fan/blower assembly, rear accessible circuit modules, peripheral component interconnect (PCI) input/output (I/O) riser assembly, power supplies and similar others.
Accessibility to the backplane 120 for servicing and/or replacing may be difficult. Accessing the backplane 120 for service and/or replacement may require removal of the modular components such as the fan assembly, the PCI input/output (I/O) riser assembly and removal of bulky power supply units, which may be blocking user's access to the backplane 120. In some cases, removal of the planar module may also be required. Often special tools may have to be used to gain access to these centrally located components within the chassis enclosure. Thus, servicing and replacement of the backplane 120, as well as its initial factory assembly has been difficult and has often consumed excessive time.
Therefore, a need exists to provide a tool-less method and system for efficiently servicing centrally located components within a chassis of a computer system. Additionally, a need exists to service and/or replace a backplane assembly of a computer system preferably without removal of any additional electronic components within the computer system. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a tool-less method and system for accessing centrally located components within a chassis of an information handling system absent the disadvantages found in the prior methods discussed above.